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18th
Stowmarket Striders AGM - 2004
Monday 24th January 2005 Contents: Richard Nash (Club Chairman) (RN), Bob Ratliffe (Club Treasurer) (BR), David Hartley (Club Secretary and Minute Taker) (DH), Colin Thomas, Anne Fellingham, Richard Fellingham (RF), Jane Fellingham-Boyce, Jim King, Lorraine Phillips, Malcolm Hogarth, Rose Norris, Phil Rampley (PR), Mike Goodwin, Karen Goodwin, Paul Austin, Sue Garrod, Les Basham (LB), Tracey Lee (TL), Louise Bunch, Peter Tricker (PT), Mary Tricker, Ellen Broughton, Chris Gladwell, Adam Howlay, James Mwati, John Browning, Tammy Jordan, Heidi Bingham, Lynda Steward (LS), Chris Oliver, Chris Chaplin, David West, Maria Reynolds, and Les King (LK).
Grayhame & Anne Fish, Richard Denwood and Jane Dolan.
The minutes of the 17th AGM were approved as an accurate record.
Introduction
Thank you for all coming tonight.
Members
The club membership increased substantially during the year increasing from 102 members at the end of 2003 to a massive 161 members in 2004, the biggest membership in the club's 18 year history. This makes the rural Stowmarket Striders Running Club probably the largest club in Suffolk.
Much of this is attributable to the summer beginner sessions held by Peter Tricker that emphasis that the club represents ‘running for all abilities’ and not just for the elite. The summer beginner’s sessions will be promoted again this year with many thanks to Peter.
The club's growth however has not been without tragedy, losing George Leggett and Paul Larking before their time.
2004 saw the Stowmarket Striders Running Club become an approved ‘Community Amateur Sports Club’ with the Inland Revenue, being the second running club in the country to be eligible for the beneficial tax incentives.
Coaches
The beginner sessions saw the significant progress of our Coach Development programme that has promoted 5 volunteers to achieve the UK Athletics Level 1 Coaching profession (Chris Gladwell, Sue Garrod, Olwyn Clayden, Jenny Relf, & Les Basham). Peter Tricker also progressed successfully taking the UK Athletics Level 2 Coaching course. Together with Richard Fellingham and Chris Starmer a big thank you goes to the coaches for their time.
Awards
The winners of the club championships were Les King and Lorraine Phillips, with Les Basham and Sue Garrod voted as 2004 Striders of the year.
With the help of Chris Oliver, the club now has a Club Standards for those runners who wish to aim for a time. Those achieving the bronze, silver, gold or platinum standards will receive a certificate in acknowledgement of their achievement.
Due to the increase in the size of the club, there are 3 automatic London Marathon places available for the members. Using the criteria set in the club rules, the London Marathon club places went to the applicants Richard Fellingham, Denise Naughton and Les Basham.
Club Races
The club hosted its usual 4 races during 2004 being Haughley Park XC, Joe Cox 10m, Friday 5 & Scenic 7. The Scenic 7 in 2004 was one of our largest and most successful races to date with 257 finishers. We were also proud to receive excellent reviews in forums such as Runners World where this race is voted to be in the ‘Readers Races of the Year 2004’ top 40 out of 280 races countrywide, the top voted race in Suffolk and the 2nd in East Anglia.
A huge thank you goes to Chris Chaplin and Heidi Bingham whose considerable work, largely unseen, goes into organising these events under ever more stricter regulations. Also a thank you goes to the marshals and helpers, without whom these races would not be possible.
Social Events
Many thanks go to Lorraine Phillips for organising the Striders social calendar with assistance from other committee members such as Tracey Lee, Sue Garrod and Chris Oliver.
In June of this year the club is planning a weekend away in Blackpool on the 19th June 2005. Open to all the members, there is a Marathon and Half Marathon race together with the usual Blackpool attractions to look forward to.
Before moving on, I would also like to thank Les Basham for his hard work looking after the Club Kit, and developing the range of kit available.
The Future
For 2005 the committee is looking into the UK Athletics Club: Future programme and will be participating in the best practices involved with this to ensure that the club maintains a high standard in terms of administration and coaching.
Both Peter Tricker and Richard Fellingham are investing their time in achieving the UK Athletics level 3 coaching profession with the club’s financial support. This will make sure that the club has the most qualified coaches in the county to support the membership, regardless of ability.
Higher coaching also helps with the aim to promote 'year round running’ for the youth. Liaison with the local schools will be necessary together with a look at improving the athletic/running based facilities available in Stowmarket and for our running club.
Finally…
Finally, I would like to thank the outgoing committee for their help and support during 2004 and wish the incoming committee every success in 2005.
The 2004 turnover was just under £10,500. These healthy figures are primarily due to increased subscription and earnings from club kit. The Treasurer thanked PT for his part in increasing the club membership and DH for collecting subscriptions.
Club kit accounts for £410 of the club assets. BR thanked LB for his part in doubling the Club Kit Sales. Later during the meeting LB thanked LK for helping with organising the kit.
Race expenditures were down on 2003 costs, social event costs remained at 2003 levels, but insurance, affiliation costs etc. went up due to the increased size of club membership, and increased attendance at club races.
The club made £1359.94 in 2004, as opposed to £18.29 in 2003.
The current account is standing at £3,026.80, with the Nationwide account standing at £4,723.00. £3,000 was transferred from the current account to the Nationwide account in 2004 to allow that money to gain interest.
The Treasurer pointed out that during 2004 the club made extra-ordinary purchases on tents and had to provide outdoor facilities because Haughley Barn could not be used. The club made £338.96 from the Haughley Cross County.
Including a donation of £200 to SHIMS, the club made a loss of £11.57 from the Joe Cox 10. The Treasure highlighted that £78.63 was made from refreshments and £27 from the Massage service.
£550.87 was made on the Friday 5.
But the Scenic 7 race was very successful; the club making £1,061.18. The Treasure put this down to the large amount of entries received this year.
The Treasurer noted that the club made a small profit on the Christmas Party.
The Treasurer thanked Kirsty Denwood for auditing the 2004 accounts and asked if she would be willing to audit the 2005 accounts.
In conclusion, the Treasurer believes the club is going well, and therefore proposes that providing there is no change to charges for training night facilities etc., the annual subscription should remain as follows:
£12 if paid before or on 31st March. £15 if paid on or after 1st April. £6 for new members joining on or after 1st July.
Proposal was accepted by the AGM.
Proposal by LS for an over 50’s Group This group would be set up for those who are returning from injury or are just not feeling up to it. RF said that Tuesday sessions are designed for people to do as they please. RF was also concerned that this would lead to an elitist attitude, which would go against the ‘make up’ of the club. CC said where there are options like this open to people, they tend to take the easier one, rather than push themselves. PT suggested that for those returning from injury, the Summer Beginner’s sessions would be available.
Proposal by RF for an ‘Advanced’ Group RF offered an additional training night for those club members who wish to run in addition to Tuesdays and Thursday club nights. RN suggested that this should be discussed further during the Coaches Committee meeting.
Youngsters RF said that he hopes that a youngster branch of the club will be set up by the beginning of the year. RN added that the club is doing all it can with regards to ensuring Child Protection requirements are met. Work needs to be done on liaising with schools and ‘encouraging’ parents to turn up to running sessions with their kids (TL added that they have to attend). Committee to consider age limits following PR’s suggestion. General consensus is that the AGM is happy with the objective, though there is concern about how the facilities problem can be solved, especially considering during the winter, and during summer rain, where the running track is inappropriate.
Club Championship A lengthy and informative discussion on the present set up of the club championships was held. The AGM was in general agreement that the championships are a success. However, the committee is to discuss the following:
Running Achievement Award CO and Coaching committee to look into possible certificate times for those runners over 60.
Paul Laking Committee will be making a donation on behalf of the club following the events of the last few weeks.
Facilities RN informed the AGM that the Leisure Centre will be privatised and it is possible that the owners will start to charge the club for their facilities. In any case, club membership has risen to an extent where the club is beginning to out grow its existing facilities. Any charging to the club for facilities will have a bearing on fees. This may be an issue for the next AGM. RN asked the members for any ideas regarding facilities.
Track Sessions Committee to look into possible occasional use of the tracks at Bury or Northgate. Coaching committee to propose a questionnaire to be included in a future club newsletter to gauge enthusiasm for track sessions.
Subscriptions Club members are reminded subscriptions are now due. Can all club members please give subscription cash or cheques in envelopes. The member’s name, the amount of money enclosed, and the reason for the money should be written on the envelope. Membership renewal forms are now available.
Next Committee meeting: 7th February 2005 7:30pm at Sue Garrod’s.
30th January 2006 7:30pm
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